Notes On Literature Science And Art.

tenth century the wages for lifting this stone Avas only one penny per man per diem . The Pinnacle and Eildon quarries now supply the neighbourhood . " The death of Mrs . Pye , relict of the late Henry Pye , reminds the world of a former poet-laureate , who ivas so little of a poet that his very name is almost forgotten . The Westminster Revieio thus hits the selfishness Avhich is

currently taught in the present day : — " If there is one thing more certain than another , it is , that the large majority of mankind must always live by the labour of their hands . In the eyes , therefore , of the political philosopher , AA-hatever concerns labour is of paramoufc importance . To give the labouring class such habits and such opportunities as may tend to raise it as a Avhole , is the object he has most at heart . Increased production , extended commerce , political liberty , the progress of science , he

regards ivifch indifference if they have not this tendency . For Avithout pretending to assign any limits to human progress in a fardistant future , Ave must sorrowfully admit that the lot of the Avorking man , as far as Ave see at present , cannot but be one of comparative hardship . It is as a Avorkman that he must be improved—not as something else . One Avould have thought that the educated class , Avhose position and habits of thought are most favourable to broad and general viewswould have been the first to recognise this

, truth ; while the thoughtful Avorking man , Avhoismostdissatisfied Avith his lot , might have been expected to be most individual in his vieivs , most bent on extricating himself from the struggling mass , careless what might become of his fellows . The reverse is the fact . The upper classes—fche so-called philanthropists most actively of all—¦ preach this selfish doctrine to him ; hut he stops his ears . Get on in the Avorld—this is their first and great commandment . It is as though Davy , instead of inventing the safety lamp , had persuaded

a miner here aud there fco take to some occupation in the upper air . Who are the heroes of Dr . Smiles and the British Workman ? 'Self-made men / as the cant phrase is , men AA-IIO hive raised themselves from fche position of labourers to that of capitalists . Such are the modeis proposed to the proletary for his imitation ! Such is the out-look offered him from his painful drudgery ! Now , the best Avorking men see the combined folly and meanness of such counsel as this . The reply—It is a mockery to tell us of this or

that individual Ai-ho has risen from indigence to Avealth . The Government which amuses its miserable subjects AA-lth lotteries , is thought to have reached the loivest depth of baseness . This is a lottery which you offer us , and one Avith remarkably few prizes . All of us have known , hundreds of steady , industrious men , Avho have tried in vain to better themselves in life . Besides , you , the respectable classes , frequently find the pushing , money-making men , deficient , if not in honesty , yet in those finer qualities Avhich command

respect aucl affection . So do Ave . Why should you set such a type before us as a model , when you sneer at it in your oivn rank of life ? But further than this , if you overlook the interests of society , Ave do not . AVe , the vast majority of the community , are overworked and underpaid , and are otherivise in a very unsatisfactory state . HOAV are we the better—IIOAV is society the better , because one of our number has become a capitalist ? You have still before you the miserable , discontented mass , as great a difficulty and scandal as before . "

Correspondence.

CORRESPONDENCE .

T / ifi Editor is not responsible for the opinions expressed & # Correspondents . "BRO . G . M . TWEDDELL AND EREEMASONRY IN AMERICA . " TO THE EDITOn OU THE FREEMASONS MAGAZINE AND MASONIC MIIU 10 H . " WhHal'tis my AvocationHal ; 'tis no sin for a man to labour

y , , , in his vocation . " - —Henry IV ., Part I ., Act I ., scene 2 nd . DEAR Silt AND BROTHEII ,- —The words of Falstaff came to my mind when I read the letter of H . N ., under the above head , at page 329 of your Magazine ; and I also thought of Falstaff ' s men in buff , when I found your correspondent charging me Avith having "twice attacked him"for his assertion that " Masonry in America is , at this time , virtually

defunct . " I shall briefly reply to your correspondent , after Avhich I shall cease to appear in your " Correspondence " until I can express a difference of opinion Avith Masons with the same toleration as I have been accustomed to receive amongst the outer world , who are not Masons . First , then , dear Sir and Brother , I did not attack H . M . twice , and I fancy the imagination that can transform my

communication at page 311 into an attack , must be a fertile one . Secondly , the " attack , " if such it must be considered , which I did make at page 175 , was not on H . M ., but on " the startling statement" Avhich he had been weak enough to make , of which I then saic \ : " This strange assertion appears to me so utterly opposed to the great Masonic virtue , truth , that I charitably hope the Avriterif ha be a Freemasonhas not

, , expressed what he meant to have clone . " Now , however , that he has returned to the attack , and imputed base motives to the whole American brotherhood , and to myself for simply defending , as in duty hound , the characters of my absenfc brother Master Masons , the same as though they were present , the only course left me is to withdraw the charitable hope which I had expressed concerning him .

I Avill pass by the assertions your correspondent has given expression to , that am making Masonic capital out of it , as utterly unworthy of reply . I remember , one Saturday afternoon , accompanying my friend Thomas Wright , the prison , philanthropist , through the cells of the NBAV Bailey at Salford . On returning at night by the train , to the Industrial School in which I was then engaged , I was

speaking to an acquaintance of the assiduity with which my friend had devoted himself through life to his benevolent labours , Avhen another person in tho carriage , who had been listening to the conversation , very innocently asked— "But how does he make it pay ? " He had no idea of martyrs dying afc the stake for conscience sake ; of patriots enduring years of exile or of slavery for their country ' s redemption ;

of John HoAvards , and Mrs . Frys , and Thomas "Wri ghts , devoting their lives to visiting and endeavouring to benefit the fallen brothers and sisters of the human race AA'hen in prison ; and it needed but feAv questions to draAV from him sufficient evidence to prove that his highest conception of good Avas " getting on in the Avorld . " Bufc from us Masons , Avhobefore Ave Avere alloAved to take upon ourselves our

, solemn obligations , ivere obliged solemnly to declare that we " are prompted to solicit those privileges from a favourable opinion preconceived of the institution , a general desire of knowledge , and a sincere wish to render ourselves more extensively serviceable to our felloAV-creatures !"—from us , who are taught to overlook all differences of creed , country , and party , in one common brotherhood ; for us , last of all men ,

ought uncharitable surmisings and unkind speeches and letters to spring . I am sorry , therefore , that your correspondent ' s letter should breathe throughout the spirit which it does ; and I would not have condescended to answer it ,

had ho not charged me Avith having done him an injustice in not making sufficient allowance for the word " virtually . " Now , clear sir and brother , I cannot see hoAv this mends his position . Better , by far , that Freemasonry was totally defunct , if such a thing were possible , than that it should be virtually so . H . N . kindly treats me to Dr . Johnson ' s definition of the word . I am obliged to him for doing so ;

I have great respect for Dr . Johnson for the noble manner in which he produced that dictionary-Avithout the Chesterfields of the day . But if it be nofc heresy ( and ifc really does seem very dangerous to hazard an opinion in your pages ) , I think Walker ' s definition is a better , because a plainer , one than good old Johnson ' s ; and " Walker defines virtually to mean "In effect , though not formally . " If , then ,

Freemasonry in America be " virtually defunct , " it is the same with our American brethren as Avith those false servants of G-od mentioned by St . Paul , in the Second Epistle to Timothy , Avho , instead of being " vessels unto honour , sanctified and meet to the Master ' s use and prepared unto every good work , " are " lovers of their own selves , covetous , boasters , proud , blasphemers , disobedient to parents ,

unthankful , unholy , Avithout natural affections , truce-breakers , false accusers , incontinent , fierce , despisers of those that are good , traitors , heady , high-minded , lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God , having a form of godliness , but denying the power thereof . " If our American brethren are such-like persons as these , then is our holy Craft " virtually defunct " amongst them , hoAvever they may play Avith its gloi'ious

symbols and bedeck themselves Avith its trappings . But if , as the letter from our NOAV York brother eloquently affirms , " at no previous time has Masonry been in so flourishing a condition in America as at present , nor were ever the sublime principles which it inculcates more sincerely practised than